Reported crime in Burien fell 20.6% in 2025, according to the Crime in Washington 2025 Annual Report from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.
The report lists 3,065 Group A offenses reported by Burien police in 2025, down from 3,860 in 2024. Burien’s crime rate was 57.5 offenses per 1,000 residents, based on a population of 53,320.
Among nearby South King County cities listed in the report, Burien’s rate was slightly higher than Auburn at 57.1 and Kent at 54.4, and higher than Des Moines at 49.4 and SeaTac at 48. Tukwila’s rate was 161.2.
“Our Crime Reduction Unit is a major factor in these numbers,” Burien Police Chief Tom Calabrese told The B-Town Blog. “This team is committed to pro-active police work, also known as onviews, where they are empowered to act when they see a crime committed in real time, versus waiting for a call to service. While this report is encouraging, we will continue to focus on bringing the crime rate down even more and ask for the public’s help in these efforts. If you see something, say something. Our deputies are committed to further building and strengthening community trust and we ask the people of Burien to help us in our mission to keep them safe.”
Several Major Categories Declined in Burien:
- Robbery fell 42.7%, from 82 offenses in 2024 to 47 in 2025.
- Burglary fell 48.6%, from 292 to 150.
- Motor vehicle theft fell 38%, from 552 to 342.
- Larceny theft offenses fell 12.1%, from 920 to 809.
- Drug and narcotic violations fell 29.3%, from 335 to 237
- Destruction of property fell 13.4%, from 441 to 382.
- Fraud offenses fell 27.6%, from 163 to 118.
Murder, Rape, Intimidation Crimes Increase:
- Murder rose by 200%, from 2 offenses in 2024 to 6 in 2025.
- Rape increased from 34 to 37, or 8.82%.
- Intimidation rose by 29.6%, from 115 to 149. Under Washington law, the crime of “intimidation” generally involves using a threat to influence, frighten or pressure another person in a legally-protected setting. Specific intimidation crimes include intimidating a witness, intimidating a public servant, intimidating a juror and criminal gang intimidation.
- Weapon law violations increased from 59 to 77, or 30.5%.
The report says Burien police cleared 1,094 offenses in 2025, for a clearance rate of 35.7%. Burien police reported 940 Group A arrests, including 902 adult arrests and 38 juvenile arrests. Group A offenses categories such as homicide, assault, intimidation, robbery, burglary, motor vehicle theft, drug offenses and weapon law violations.
The report also lists 471 domestic violence offense totals for Burien in 2025. Simple assault accounted for 192 of those totals, while violations of no contact or protection orders accounted for 122.
A separate law enforcement staffing table in the report lists Burien Police with 45 commissioned officers and 67 total full time employees as of Oct. 31, 2025. That equals 0.84 commissioned officers per 1,000 residents and 1.26 total commissioned and civilian employees per 1,000 residents.
About this Report
The Washington Uniform Crime Reporting Program’s 46th annual report tracks criminal offenses, arrests, law enforcement officers killed or assaulted, and full-time law enforcement employees across Washington. The 2025 report includes data from 197 law enforcement agencies that reported two consecutive years of National Incident-Based Reporting System data.
“The Crime In Washington 2025 annual report was compiled from data submitted to the Washington State Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs by Washington State law enforcement agencies,” officials said.
More info on the WASPC is here.
I firmly believe that the Camping Ban is responsible for much of the downward trend in street level crime, the Ban and the numbers since are clearly reflected here.